Testimonial of a Serb woman kidnapped by the KLA

"For as long as I live I will remember what the Albanians did to me and my colleague, Zorica Stevanovic." With these words Slavica Vuksanovic (40) of Strpce began her testimonial for "Novosti". They were kidnapped by members of the KLA from a breadline in the center of Gnjilane and tortured for four days and nights. They fled with the assistance of an Albanian neighbor. A mass grave was later found in the area of the building where they were tortured

They were kidnapped by members of the KLA from a breadline in the center of Gnjilane and tortured for four days and nights. They fled with the assistance of an Albanian neighbor. A mass grave was later found in the area of the building where they were tortured.

A long, painful pause as she recalls the torture the two women survived at the end of war operations in Kosovo and Metohija. They believed, said Slavica, that the war was over. That all the bad things had passed. However, for them real hell ensued after the signing of the peace agreement.

"Believing that we were safe after the deployment of KFOR and UNMIK, we went to the bakery to buy bread," testifies Slavica. "It was June 23, 1999. It was in the afternoon, streets were busy with people. Very few Serbs remained; however, the remaining Serbs concentrated in the center. We stood in a line and waited. After a few minutes, five Albanian men approached us. All of them wore camouflage uniforms with the KLA insignia. We immediately recognized two former policemen among them, one of whom was a neighbor of ours. Without explanation, they put tape over our mouths and dragged us out of the line. They pushed us into a car and drove us to a building in the Gavran settlement, which housed refugees from Bosnia. That is where the hell we were subjected to for the next four days and nights began.

The kidnapped women were transferred from the building in Gnjilane, where they were kept until nightfall, to another building not far from Dobrosin, at the location called Ugljare. The building, Slavica remembers, had a ground floor and two additional floors. All the rooms in the building had been transformed into torture chambers for Serbs who had probably also been abducted.

"Screams and cries could be heard from every corner. There were numerous KLA members in the buildings. They took us to some sort of a dark basement. We could not see the faces clearly but we understood that there were quite a few other victims in the same room. Their sighs and cries could be heard from all sides. Upon our arrival, we were beaten the most by a woman. She struck us with boots and sticks, pulling our hair... She demanded that we tell her where our army was, where the weapons were hidden, where Arkan was," continued Slavica.

"After a brief pause the men joined in and they resumed beating us. Every question, whether there was an answer or not, was accompanied by increasingly stronger blows. Although they did not strike us in the face, our bodies and hands were covered with bruises, swellings, cuts. Our bruised hands were placed in a basin with water and then the whole thing would start all over again."

As if to spite herself by remembering the hell she survived, Slavica's voice grows louder and louder. She explains that after the first beating they took them to rooms on the second floor. Both of them were tied to the radiator in their own rooms. Between beatings they heard cries for help of other prisoners in the building. She says that she was not aware for some time that there was a window behind her through which she managed, gathering the last atoms of strength, to peer in hopes of rescue. She saw KFOR soldiers passing next to the building, exchanging greetings with the Albanians. She claims that it was more than obvious that they were aware of what was going on in the building.

The torture continued for four days and nights. They got no food. They were forced to drink water from the basin where they placed their bruised hands. On the fourth night, at about midnight, the Albanian neighbor whom they had recognized in Gnjilane told them to flee because there would be executions that night. With his assistance, they left the building and Albanians drove them in the direction of Lucane in a car, which they assume he provided.

"I assume it was after midnight when they left us in the middle of a forest. One of the two Albanians told them upon parting: 'Now go and tell the Serbs what awaits them if they come back,'" Slavica recalls.

Frightened, severely beaten and exhausted, the unfortunate women somehow managed to get to Bujanovac. They walked for hours before finally arriving at a police station, where they were received.

Although the signs of abuse have almost disappeared from their bodies, the scars will remain as long as they live. Because the memories of the torture hurt them just as much, they tell us, as the torture they experienced. Nevertheless, they are lucky to have survived and to be able to testify regarding the crimes of the Albanians, which many of the other prisoners, unfortunately, did not survive.

Zorica told many reporters of the suffering she had survived. However, at first journalists did not believe that she had been imprisoned by the KLA. In order to convince them, Slavica sent them all to Niska Topaonica, which has complete documentation regarding her medical condition and where she continues to see physicians once a month.

A mass grave has been discovered in the area of the building where Slavica and her colleague were tortured with the human remains of 14 murdered Serbs. Some of them had been identified as early as August 1999. According to our sources, the bodies were those of Stojan Pekic (60), Slobodan Marinkovic, Slobodan Stevic, Zoran (33) and Djordje Zdravkovic (57) and Dragan Tomic (23). Also identified later were the human remains of Djemo Zuluj, Ljubisa Piric and Mirko Jovic, while the identification of others has not been completed yet. All the murdered Serbs disappeared during July 1999.

After providing them with emergency medical treatment and their first meal in four days, the police took the unfortunate women to Nis. Their broken bones were x-rayed and they were provided with necessary medical treatment; however, they were not admitted to hospital due to the fact that their documents were in Gnjilane. After recuperating sufficiently at a relative's in Nis to be able to travel, they went to Zorica's brother in Pancevo, where they were admitted to the hospital for treatment. From there they parted ways; Slavica returned to her parents in Strpce and Zorica remained in Pancevo.

Her story is similar to what was happening in another sector of Kosovo. German soldiers in Prizren caught the KLA red-handed and in a building where Serbs and Gypsies were found severely injured (and one recently dead 70-year-old), traumatized, and TIED TO RADIATORS.

"She explains that after the first beating they took them to rooms on the second floor. Both of them were tied to the radiator in their own rooms. Between beatings they heard cries for help of other prisoners in the building. She says that she was not aware for some time that there was a window behind her through which she managed, gathering the last atoms of strength, to peer in hopes of rescue. She saw KFOR soldiers passing next to the building, exchanging greetings with the Albanians. She claims that it was more than obvious that they were aware of what was going on in the building."

Germans free 15 KLA captives
Some of the prisoners were found handcuffed to radiators or left with their hands tied behind their backs, said soldiers coming out of the cordoned-off building. Some were locked into offices in the building, they added.
After taking control of the building, German troops seized about 40 pistols and Kalashnikov rifles, a 120mm mortar shell and several hand grenades. The 25 KLA soldiers found in the building, including one woman in camouflaged fatigues, were disarmed, marched out and handed over to KLA officers.

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